The Senate of Lesotho () is the

upper chamber An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted power than the lower house. A legis ...

of the Parliament of Lesotho, which, along with the National Assembly of Lesotho (the

lower chamber A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise exe ...

), comprises the

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

. Bicameralism in Lesotho is specifically modeled after the

Westminster system The Westminster system, or Westminster model, is a type of parliamentary system, parliamentary government that incorporates a series of Parliamentary procedure, procedures for operating a legislature, first developed in England. Key aspects of ...

of the United Kingdom, having an upper house weaker than the lower. As such, the Senate holds less power than the National Assembly; it cannot initiate legislation, it does not appoint the Prime Minister, and it does not participate in motions of confidence. The Senate's consent is required to amend certain clauses of the constitution, and for a bill to become law, it must be passed by both chambers of Parliament. The current Senate has a total of 33 members. 22 are hereditary

tribal chief A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies There is no definition for "tribe". The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of weste ...

s who perform executive functions for their respective communities and 11 are nominated by the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

on the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

's advice and generally align with the King in their legislative behavior. Members serve five-year terms. Senators may not serve simultaneously as members of the National Assembly. Mamonaheng Mokitimi is the current president of the Senate. She succeeded Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso.

References

External links

Senate of Lesotho - Official site
Government of Lesotho

1965 establishments in Basutoland {{National upper houses

See also

References

External links